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Day 13: French Fried Sweet Potatoes

Wait! Did I just write French Fried Sweet Potatoes?? You mean, someone's thought of them before - before they were a thing??

Haha! I love finding things like this. I'll fully admit that I mock the present fads and say, "And you all thought this was a new thing!" I've found quite a few things like that as I've gone through wartime cookbooks. In the end, I'm just happy that recipes from that time are finding their way back again, because they had some really good ideas! Now what would be interesting to find out, is whether 1940s wartime was the time they originated in the U.S.

I've tried sweet potato fries one time at a restaurant (with marshmallow dipping sauce...), and they were okay! I think it would be fun to try these 1940s-style French Fried Sweet Potatoes. It's interesting you have to parboil them first. I don't think you do that with modern recipes.

It's great to find more sweet potato recipes, though. I really had no idea how many 1940s recipes were out there for sweet potatoes! They seemed to be a nutritious staple right along with other root-type vegetables. They are quite filling, and a very nice change from regular ol' potatoes.

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It's here!!! The Wartime Rationing Menu Challenge has finally arrived!
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First up, I want to put in a disclaimer. I'm starting this ration menu challenge, and I'm going to follow it the best I can, but I'm just like you - busy with life and all the little moments of chaos that come up when they're the least expected. This isn't a hardcore challenge. Remember that it's for fun, for learning about a cool era of historical cooking in America, and to get yourself into your kitchen trying out some new recipes! If you find some fabulous new favorites, even better.

Grapefruit
Cooked Cereal
Fluffy Omelet
Whole Wheat Toast
Coffee/Malted Milk
I kept it mostly the same with only a few changes due to what we had on hand:
Orange slices
Cooked 10-grain cereal
Fluffy Omelet
Bread w/ a bit of butter
Coffee substitute (Teaccino)
Yum! It was a nice breakfast, especially since it wasn't just cold cereal. To make the fluffy omelet, I didn't follow a recipe. I just added some milk to the scrambled eggs which makes it fluffy as it slowly cooks. And I sprinkled a bit of cheese on top.

LUNCH
The lunch menu was quite lovely! We actually had it for a light supper.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Berry Patch Salad
Toasted Muffins
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I stuck to this menu, and used a recipe for the soup from one of my wartime cookbooks. It used a mixture of milk and evaporated milk. I used up some light …

If ever there was a myth about history it would be this: Things were dirt cheap back then.

Were they really?
And this is where I rub my hands together and cackle with geeky glee. Just like we shouldn't judge our ancestors solely based on current standards and social norms, we shouldn't judge prices of yesteryear by today's dollar value.

I'll give you some examples.

(And don't worry. I'm not going to get super technical or get all crazy on the math, because Math is not my strongest subject. I'll fully admit I got my math-savvy husband to help me remember the equations I learned from my college economics class.)

I was looking in one of my Health-for-Victory meal planning guide from 1943. They stated that if you followed their meal plan, you could expect to spend between $14 - $16 a week on groceries. You're probably thinking, WOW! I'd love to pay $14/week for groceries! But what's the value of 1943's $14 in our current year of 2015?